There are a number of well known arrangements for securing ceiling panels to form a finished ceiling surface. Such systems include the conventional “T”-bar systems where ceiling panels are placed above the “T”-bar and supported by outwardly extending flanges of the “T”-bar grid system. It is also known to suspend ceiling panels beneath a support structure such that the panels themselves form the ceiling surface. These suspension ceiling panel systems can include torsion spring arrangements for releasably suspending the ceiling panels beneath a support grid. Examples of suspended ceiling panel systems that include torsion springs for securing thereof are shown in our U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,535,566, 5,428,930 and 4,548,010.
Suspended ceiling panels preferably include a perimeter frame secured about the periphery of an acoustical body member. Finished surfaces are normally applied to the lower surface of the acoustical body member and can extend along the side surfaces of the perimeter frame.
An earlier suspended ceiling panel system has a push-on clip for securing of a torsion spring adjacent a top surface of a ceiling panel. These push-on clips include an open hook extending above a base portion of the clip with a gap above the base portion to allow a torsion spring to be inserted and retained on the hook. The hook is secured at one end thereof to the base portion and the opposite end is free of contact with and spaced above the base portion. With this open hook design, the torsion spring can be secured to the clip prior to or after securement of the clip to the panel. The base portion of this clip tightly engages an inwardly extending flange of a perimeter frame of the panel. Various retention-type locks or projections can be provided on the base portion for engagement with the flange of the perimeter frame.
The present invention provides a clip for a ceiling panel with improved characteristics with respect to retention of a torsion spring or other securing structure on the clip.